


i'll carry you home

by eskalations



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003), Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Alcohol, Canon Compliant, Drunken Flirting, F/M, Flirting, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:53:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24531844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eskalations/pseuds/eskalations
Summary: Only he would dare call a sniper at such an ungodly hour.
Relationships: Riza Hawkeye/Roy Mustang
Comments: 6
Kudos: 83





	i'll carry you home

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This is just a short oneshot I wrote while brainstorming ideas for Smoke and Gunpowder. It's not perfect since I wrote it down rather quickly, but I always liked the idea of Riza helping Roy pick up the pieces (emotionally) after Hughes' death.
> 
> Let me know what you think! Reviews and comments are always appreciated!

"Hello Elizabeth!"

Riza pulled the phone away from her ear, the bright tone much too chipper for this time of night. It didn't take a genius to deduce who was calling her at such a late hour. It also didn't take a genius to figure out that he was drunk. The letters of her code named were slurred far beyond the that of his usual flirty drawl.

 _What time is it anyways?_ Her eyes squinted at the wall clock in the darkness. Through the bleariness of sleep, she could just make out the shape of the little hand on the four. _She had to be up in two hours!_

Holding in a groan, Riza brought the phone back to her ear.

"Roy?" She asked. There was a bite in her tone, though she didn't think it could be that intimidating with the sleep that still colored her words. Only he would dare call a sniper at such an ungodly hour.

"Of course! How many other men do you have calling you up?" Though it was meant to come off as a jest, she could hear a slight edge in his tone.

"I'm a very busy woman."

He laughed, though there was no real humor behind it. "But I thought I was your most _special_ of customers, dearest Elizabeth?"

"Roy, what exactly is it that you need right now?" She finally asked, glancing down at the foot of her bed where Black Hayate still slept on. Oh, how she wished that could be her right now. "You do realize that you have work in a few hours, correct?"

There was some static being picked up by the receiver. It occurred to her that the connection seemed much too poor to be coming from his home phone line. _Where on earth was he?_ It was this, combined with the fact that he was drunk, that had her stepping out of her bed before he could even answer her question.

There was a long pause.

"Roy?" She asked as she cradled the phone between her ear and shoulder. His heavy breathing on the other end of the line signaled that he was still there. "Where are you? Do I need to come and get you?"

She had already hastily pulled on a black pair of pants by the time he answered her. "The Drunken Ditch."

She stilled. Why was he _there_?

"I was thinking about him and I just – I don't know. I needed to come here." No more humor was left in his tone, the flirty edge to his words gone.

The Drunken Ditch had been the bar he and Hughes frequented the most during their time together in Central. It went back even further than that though. The hole-in-the-wall bar was just a few blocks down from the Central branch of the Academy. They had been going to that bar since they were recruits. The amount of history the bar had between the two was extensive.

That's what was concerning her.

"Are you there now?" She couldn't hear the hum of voices in the background, meaning he had already removed himself from the establishment prior to calling her. Knowing that her superior officer was probably wandering around Central City drunk and, most likely, emotionally vulnerable, had her dressing even faster.

It took him a moment to answer her. "I'm in the phone booth outside."

She didn't bother mentioning to him that there were many phone booths in that area, it didn't matter. She would check all of them.

"Okay," She put the phone to her ear again, palm sweaty. The bar was only about 10 minutes away from her apartment, she needed to be quick though. With Hughes killer still on the loose, there was no telling who he could run into. "Please stay where you are, sir. I'll be there shortly."

Before she could hang up, the man was speaking again.

"I can't." Riza froze at the fearful rasp in his tone. Black Hayate looked up at her curiously as she gripped the phone closer.

"What do you mean?"

"I can't – I can't stay in here, Lieuuu - Elizabeth. It took me an hour to finally call you." He admitted quietly. On the other side of the line, Riza could almost imagine the man leaning forward against the glass of the booth, his forehead pressed against his hand in defeat. "I just can't do it."

"Sir, will you at least go back to the bar?" Knowing that it wasn't wise to argue with him in this state, Riza chose to give him an alternative. Her Elizabeth persona had long since slipped, so they just had to hope no one was listening.

He was silent again. The pause seemed to drag on forever.

"Yes," He finally conceded, his voice so low that she had to strain to hear.

Then the line went dead.

With that, Riza threw on her shoes and left her apartment – leaving a very confused Hayate in her wake.

Once she came upon The Drunken Ditch, it didn't take her long to find him.

She had walked briskly down the sidewalks of Central, careful to keep her head held low should anyone see her. With her hair down and glasses on, she was usually able to conceal her identity pretty well – but in this part of town, you could never really know who you were going to run into with its proximity to the Academy.

She could feel her heart stutter in relief as she laid eyes on the familiar form of her superior slumped against the wall of an alley next to the bar. In the fading moonlight, one could hardly tell that he was little more than a squatter. From the darkened windows of the building, she could tell they had closed not long before she had arrived.

He didn't notice her at first, his inattention causing a familiar anxiety to rise within her. _How could he be so inattentive? Doesn't he know that now is not the time to be letting his guard down?_

She was about ready to lecture him, as she stomped over to where he was stationed against the wall, but something stopped her. That something was a bleary pair of dark eyes that spoke of such brokenness they knocked the wind out of her.

_How could she kick a man that was already down?_

Crossing the remaining distance between them, Riza changed her resolve.

"Elizabeth at your service, sir." Her voice was softer than it had been when they were on the phone, her frustration at being woken up dissolving as she took in his shivering form. "How can I be of assistance?"

His glassy eyes were still trained on her, though he seemed to be looking through her rather than at her. When he heard her voice though, it was like he had been brought back to shore. After a moment of staring, he gave her a weak smile.

"I'm drunk."

"Yes, sir."

"Is the alcohol messing with my brain or are you starting to sound a lot like my lieutenant?"

She gave him a wry grin. Squatting down, she lifted his arm over her shoulders. "It's probably just the alcohol. Although, your lieutenant is a smart woman."

"She is, indeed."

"She's also very understanding." Fishing in his coat pocket, she found the key to his vehicle. Without missing a beat, she nudged him forward. "She knows that it's hard for you to cope right now, but she really wishes you would tell her before you went out like this. Perhaps then, you wouldn't have to go out alone."

"Perhaps," He remarked, tiredly – the booze finally catching up to him. They walked a few steps before he spoke again. "But I also know she's a stickler for the frat rules so she'd probably be scared at how that would look to others."

"She's here right now – is she not?"

Though the sidewalks were empty, there was still a slight chance that they could be seen together. This area was crawling with cadets who would not hesitate to call in any suspicious activities between officers if it meant their chance at a promotion. They were taking a risk, especially with him being drunk – but it was worth it if it meant him getting home safely.

"Yeah." He huffed, the exertion of the short walk getting to him.

His car was parked along the sidewalk two blocks down from the bar. Once she had gotten him seated on the passenger side, she slid into the driver's seat. They both were silent as she inserted the key into the ignition, the vehicle slowly humming to life.

Because the Colonel's home was on the other side of the city, the drive promised to be a long one. Riza knew at this point that there would be no more sleep to be had before tomorrow. Roy, on the other hand, would probably show up to work several hours late, nursing a hangover.

The tired look on her face must have given away her thoughts since it seemed to catch the attention of the Colonel.

"Sorry," Her companion mumbled, his head against the glass of the passenger side window. She schooled her features quickly – they didn't call her the 'Ice Queen' for nothing.

"It's not a problem, sir." She insisted, though it didn't seem to be good enough for him. Sitting up from his slumped position, the drunken man grasped her arm. Riza fought to keep her eyes on the road at his touch.

"It is a problem." He said, squeezing her arm as if to emphasize his point. "It's not fair that I brought you out here this late. Why am I like this?"

"You're grieving, sir." She reminded him gently, shaking his hand off as politely as she could. Though there were no other cars on the road, it seemed like even the shadows had eyes in Central. "You don't have to apologize for being human."

"I don't feel human." He muttered, slouching down in his seat with his eyes trained on the floor. She could smell the residual whiskey on his breath as he sighed. "I feel like I did after Ishval – empty. I feel like life will never be the same again."

"It won't be," She told him honestly. As soldiers, they knew this. They both had come face to face with death too many times _not_ to understand it. "But you have to go on – for his sake."

Roy knew this – but it didn't make it any easier for him to accept.

They had been driving for a while, when his small townhome came into view. Riza breathed a sigh of relief – the street was empty. She needed to get him into the house before the sun began to peak its head over the horizon. Once dawn hit, the cover of night would be on their side no more.

After their conversation, the Colonel had turned his head towards the window. In all honesty, Riza thought he had fallen asleep – but when she went to open the passenger door, he was already climbing out.

"Sir!" She fought to keep her voice down as she raced to angle herself under his arm. With her shoulder now supporting his weight, the Lieutenant grabbed a hold of his wrist to steady him. His body was unnaturally warm and, for the first time that night, she found herself questioning just how much he had drank to still be this drunk.

She was able to get him up the steps easily, but when it came to unlocking his door, she couldn't find the house key. Hoping that it was somewhere in his coat, she began rummaging through his pockets. Roy definitely took notice of this.

"Why Elizabeth," He drawled, much like he had on the phone earlier in the night. She could feel his dark eyes on her. "If you wanted to cop a feel, all you had to do was ask."

Fighting a blush - Hawkeye retrieved the key from his pocket, withdrawing from him to open the door. The man stumbled from the shift, one shoulder colliding with the porch's wall.

"Hey!"

At his exclamation, she hurriedly unlocked the door before pulling him inside. His drunken state had him tripping over the entryway, Hawkeye narrowly saving him from face planting on the hard wood floor.

Riza had only been in his apartment once, but she remembered where most everything was. Choosing to ignore comment from before, she led the man upstairs to where she knew his bedroom resided. She wasn't going to get anymore sleep tonight but she might as well make sure he got some rest – wasn't that what being his adjutant was all about?

While he was in the bathroom, brushing his teeth and readying for bed, she found herself scoping out the kitchen. With one ear peeled for any sounds of distress coming from the washroom, she poured two full bottles of whiskey down the kitchen drain.

Sure, he may have been flirting with her and acting like his normal self again, but she wasn't going to take any chances.

By the time he was done dressing for bed, Riza had returned to his room and pulled down his covers. She hadn't bothered to turn a light on, since the warm rays of dawn were making their way through the window.

Roy's steps were more heavy than clumsy now – his inebriation wearing off while weariness kicked in. A small grunt of thanks was all she received as he fell into bed, hugging a pillow closely to his chest. Riza half expected him to start snoring right there.

_Will he even bother to show up to the office today? Probably not._

She was trying to decide whether to take his car or the tram back to her apartment when a warm hand wrapped around her wrist. Looking down at the seemingly sleeping man, she found a bleary pair of eyes staring back at her. The sadness from earlier was still there – however, she could now also see an appreciative glint in his eyes.

"Thank you." He murmured, smiling up at her tiredly. She couldn't fight the smile that appeared on her face as well. "Now how about you join me, my dearest Elizabeth?"

At the flirty quip, Riza scoffed, grabbing one of his side pillows before tossing it at him. Without another word, she was out the door and headed down the stairs. The faint sound of laughter followed her as she made her way to the exit.

Yes, he would be _just_ fine.


End file.
